Food and drink booms in Canterbury as Kokoro bid to open new sushi cafe 2

Food and drink booms in Canterbury as Kokoro bid to open new sushi cafe

Almost 1 / 4 of premises in Canterbury at the moment are classed as foods and drinks outlets, new figures display. A remarkable 24% of organizations are preserving the city’s citizens, and traffic replenished, with sales in the region booming. But a 10% 12 months-on-12 months income increase throughout the 149 eateries is in stark assessment to underneath-appearing branch stores and garb shops, which have suffered drops of three.Nine% and five.7% respectively. The positives of running food and drinks shops within the city are also proved by revealing plans to open a new sushi cafe in the high street. National retailer Kokoro, which specializes in Korean and Japanese food, wants to circulate into the website of a foreign exchange store next to The Works. If the proposals are permitted, they might be part of the list of eateries inside the metropolis center.

Food and drink booms

Statistics compiled by the Canterbury Business Improvement District (BID) show that sales this February rocketed with the aid of 10.1% compared to the equal month closing yr. But branch shops and clothing stores are struggling. The records signal the times for Canterbury’s retail weather, with large-name companies bowing out of the town due to earnings slumps. Debenhams has confirmed it’ll comply within the footsteps of Nations by final it is big to save, whilst M & M&S stays at threat, and Fenwick made redundancies last summer. Long-established apparel chain French Connection shut down in April, and the Gazette knows the premises turns into an eating place in the not too distant destiny. Caribbean eatery Turtle Bay is about to open in a three-story unit in Butchery Lane, and Mexican chain Taco Bell has confirmed it is thinking about focused on Canterbury.

Stag Coffee recently spread out in the Marlowe Arcade, even as Five Guys moved into the metropolis last summer, and Sainsbury’s will open a fourth Canterbury shop q4. Property specialist, and newly elected councilor, Dave Wilson (Lab), stated: “Clearly the metropolis is turning into more and more carrier-orientated rather than conventional retail. Canterbury faces opposition from the likes of Ashford and Westwood Cross, so retail shops need to get beforehand of the curve – otherwise, we’d be left with tourism shops and food outlets in the city.

“A lot of the retail stores are pretty bland and middle of the road – they don’t provide whatever one-of-a-kind for the consumer. “I do think Canterbury wishes to awareness at the impartial investors within the side streets, which do add value. “I find it slightly surprising that food agencies are doing so properly considering what has happened to the likes of Jamie’s Italian restaurants lately. “I do think for sure the department shop market goes, if not long gone.” Footfall within the town center is likewise recorded using BID – with a sensor at the front of the high road’s Tui excursion store tracking the number of human beings taking walks thru the metropolis. As of this February, the 12-month common footfall became down by way of 2.6%.

A total of 45 enterprise premises are empty – seven more than in February 2015. Of the occupied gadgets, forty-four % are independents. The Kokoro chain has approximately 20 shops in England, including one in Maidstone. The planning software to transform the current Change Group unit has no longer been warmly welcomed by using everyone. John Pearce, who lives above the proposed cafe site, said: “I wish to object in each way.“This might be significantly destructive to my flat because of the odor created via a restaurant, and it will add pressure the rate down of the property I very own.”

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